Yoda (Jedi High Council) - SW [S - P1] - Basic (’02 #53)

Ten years after the fight to save Naboo from invasion, the galaxy is on the brink of civil war. Under the leadership of a renegade Jedi, thousands of solar systems threaten to secede from the Galactic Republic. A courageous Jedi Knight, his impulsive and headstrong apprentice, and a queen-turned-senator are drawn into the heart of the conflict... and the beginning of war.

Well into his 800s, Yoda is the oldest member of the Jedi High Council, as well as its most deeply perceptive Master. A great traveler in his younger years, Yoda has quietly visited hundreds of worlds on his own, spending years learning different lifeways and appreciating the infinitiely variable nuances of the Force. His experiences have made him cautious and reflective.

One of the more unsettling things about Episode I for many fans was the drastically different appearance of Yoda. While George Lucas attempted to keep the story seamless by using a puppet for the “younger” Yoda, many felt the extreme difference between the Episode I puppet and the Original Trilogy puppet were just too much. If you live to be 900 years old, does a paltry 20 years really make you look all that different? Whatever. Hasbro embraced this change and released an action figure in the Episode I line that mirrored this look and style of Yoda. Then in 2002, the resurrected the sculpt and tried to force an Episode II action figure out of it and well, it just doesn’t work. Repainted, retooled and repackaged, Yoda (Jedi High Council) is released under the Star Wars “Saga” banner. Hasbro must have hoped that kids and collectors have short term memory or something, because there is no way this is an Episode II take on Yoda. Thankfully a much better CGI Yoda was created for the film, thus making this sculpt obsolete for any Episode II action figure of Yoda. But if you’re looking for a refreshed Episode I version of him, well, you may be in luck.

Yoda (Jedi High Council) is at best an update of the Yoda (With Jedi Council Chair) figure from 1999’s Episode I line. Again, there is no way that you can attribute this likeness to Episode II, and we’re a little bit disappointed that Hasbro got “lazy” here and attempted to make something it isn’t. If you are looking for an enhanced version of the neo-classic Episode I figure however, you may be pleasantly surprised. Hasbro added a magnet into his left hand so that he would be able to “hold” the lightsaber or utilize the “force attract” feature. Admittedly, the tiny metal lightsaber hilt is charming, and the removable green blade is a nice addition. Yoda (Jedi High Council) also comes with the same Jedi High Council chair that the 1999 figure came with and it’s been repainted to accommodate the “Episode II” interpretation of Yoda in this scenario. We aren’t exactly sure if they completely matched the color scheme of the Episode II Yoda, but they certainly haven’t matched the shape and overall appearance. For that we have to say that this action figure just doesn’t meet expectations.

With so many better and screen accurate Episode II versions of Yoda already made and released in the Star Wars “Saga” line, we’re surprised that more of effort wasn’t taken to retool one of those figures so that he would be able to sit in the recycled Jedi High Council chair. Obviously they estimated that it would take a lot more time and effort to go that route, so an easier retool and repaint won in the long run. What is especially humorous to us is that the packaging shows a still of Yoda from Episode II, yet the figure inside of the packaging is a glaring Episode I version. So with that we have to state that for all intents and purposes, this is an Episode I version of Yoda. It’s erroneously billed as an Episode II version. Sure, Yoda didn’t use a lightsaber in Episode I, but who cares. You now can recreate some behind the scenes magic with him for events that weren’t seen on film in The Phantom Menace. There will still be collectors however that just won’t have room in their hearts for this figure. They just don’t like the Episode I pupper of Yoda, and we really cannot blame them much. We’re on the fence with this one, but it certainly isn’t a necessary purchase by any means.

Collector Notes

Yoda (Jedi High Council)

Status: Yoda (Jedi High Council) is a retool and repaint of 1999's EI Yoda (With Jedi Council Chair) figure. This time a magnet has been sculpted into his left hand to create the "Force attraction" play feature to interact with the included metal lightsaber hilt.